The skinny

The Islanders are only one of a handful of hockey franchises in the modern era where an owner sold the team for less money than they had acquired it for (the current owners of the Tampa Bay Lightning and New Jersey Devils did as well). Howard and Edward Milstein, along with Steven Gluckstern bought the team, its lucrative cable television deal and 70 acres of land for $195 million from John Pickett in 1988. In 2000, Charles Wang and Sanjay Kumar, whom Wang bought out in 2005, paid $187 million for the same assets (the team and cable deal were valued at $130 million combined). Yet if Wang sold the team today he would get less than what he paid. The reason for the team's declining value is simple: it plays in the second oldest building in the NHL and has a lease that provides the Islanders with little revenue beyond ticket receipts. Attendance averaged only 12,735 per game last season, 29th in the league. Wang claims he has pumped over $200 million into the franchise since he acquired it. Efforts to get a new building have been fruitless. Look for the Islanders to move if they do not get a new building when their lease expires in 2015.

Dates are when valuations were published; figures for most recently completed season.

1-Yr Value Chg.

1%

Ann. Value Chg.2

2%

Debt/Value3

66%

Revenue4

$63 mil

Operating Income5

$-4.5 mil

Player Expenses6

$39 mil

Gate Receipts7

$21 mil

Facility Information

Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum

Owner

Nassau County

Year Opened

1972

Capacity

16,234

Cost To Build

$31 mil

Concessionaire

Savor

Average Ticket Price

$51

Revenue and operating income are for 2009-2010 season and net of revenue sharing and stadium debt service.

1Value of team based on current stadium deal (unless new stadium is pending) without deduction for debt (other than stadium debt).

2Current team value compared with latest transaction price.

3Includes stadium debt.

4Net of stadium revenues used for debt payments.

5Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.

6Includes benefits and bonuses.

7Includes club seats.

8Compares the number of wins per player payroll relative to the rest of the NHL. Postseason wins count twice as much as regular season wins. A score of 120 means that the team achieved 20% more victories per dollar of payroll compared with the league average.

9Local revenues divided by metro population with populations in two-team markets divided in half.

10Based on average Nielsen rating in local market for regular season games of the NHL's 24 U.S. teams.

Valuation Breakdown:

Sport: Portion of franchise's value attributable to revenue shared among all teams.

Market: Portion of franchise's value attributable to its city and market size.

Stadium: Portion of franchise's value attributable to its stadium.

Brand Management: Portion of franchise's value attributable to the management of its brand.